A Matt Mason Love Story: A New Life
by piggyh6
Summary: Sequel in A Matt Mason Love Story Series. Now that they've finally reached Michigan, what is to come? Matt still isn't the Prince Charming that he'd hoped to be. Amber is shawdowed, trying to leave behind the web of secrets that entangled her past. Their relationship is still so new. Together, they're so fragile, that just one mistake could possibly end it all.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1, Book 2- Complete.  
(**Hey, guys! Welcome to book two of A Matt Mason Love Story! if you haven't yet read it, book one is called A Matt Mason Love Story: The Beginning. Hope you guys enjoy this story! Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters that are in the show and also in this book. They are owned by TNT'S Falling Skies.)**

Bright lights danced on Matt's face, indicating that whoever was controlling them was now moving. He heard Amber gasp behind him, although he didn't even know that she had been there. Right now, though, he didn't focus on that. Just the blessing, and quite possibly curse, that lay ahead of him.

People.  
People in Michigan. Obviously, they hadn't yet reached Detroit, but in whatever this city was, people swarmed from place to place. Small stores and coffee shops inhabited in the part that Matt could see. Besides the rubble and military men blocking the front of the city, you could barely tell its difference from how the world once was. It was heavily guarded and as Matt drew closer to the front, while everyone around him stood still, he could see that all of the youngest people inside wore the same uniform; white long sleeved undershirts with light tan-brown shirts and either khaki skirts or slacks depending on their grnders. It was almost unreal. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen anything remotely similar. Finally, a booming voice jolted him back to reality. It took a moment to fully realize what it had said. "Stand down!" The voice yelled, belonging to a huge African man with a buzz cut. He was the type of guy whose looks itself were pretty intimidating. Captain Weaver confidently took a step forward, holding his hands up to show that he was unarmed. "We don't want to-"  
"_I said stand down!" _The person was clearly insistent. Matt didn't know what to think of the guy. He seemed sort of cocky to him. Matt actually was, he realized a moment later, in fact, right.  
Weaver nodded and quickly turned around to face everyone. "Drop your weapons!"  
Guns and knifes were hastily placed on the ground by nearly every person that was in view. Matt pulled off the strap of his rifle. As he dropped it, he noticed that Amber unsheathed her knife, but never dropped it, only hiding it partially behind her back. Most people would take her as disrespectful for disobeying Weaver's orders, but Matt just considered her as a 'rebel with a good cause'. He may have not known what that cause could've been, but kept his mouth shut anyway.  
It seemed kind of funny that Amber wasn't technically classified as an official fighter, but she did a lot of it, plus always had good tactics. Oh, the things that pop into your mind at the wrong moments.  
Finally, after everyone besides the exception of Amber) had been unarmed, the man, who was clearly the leader, spoke. "Who are you?"  
Captain Weaver cleared his throat. "Daniel Weaver, sir. Pleasure to meet you."  
When he didn't respond, Weaver continued:  
"We came from Charleston. The aliens had blown it up soon after we left, but we were informed that it's safe up here."  
Through the dark, Matt saw the man raise an eyebrow. "You walked, with the hundreds of people here, from West Virginia?"  
"No. South Carolina, actually."  
He considered this for a moment. "Who told you that we were here?"  
Captain Weaver hesitated. Matt knew that it was probably going to sound crazy that they had gotten information from a bunch of skitters.  
The only sound that was heard was the sharp noise of a gun being cocked. "I asked you a question." "There were a few civilians that suggested we try the Midwest. I guess we just got lucky." He conveniently left out the 'skitter part'.  
The man lowered his arm to hold his gun at one side. "And you just expect me to... let you in. Am I correct, Dan?"  
"Yes, sir."  
Through the darkness, Matt could see his lips turn up in a bitter smirk. "Is that right? I should just allow you to enter _my _city that _I_ worked so hard for on a basic confrontation with you? I'm afraid the world doesn't work that way, Dan. So I'm going to first ask you nicely to leave the premises. Otherwise..." On cue, everyone guarding trained their guns on them.  
Weaver nodded, turning around then drawing closer to give orders to everyone. "Looks like Detroit isn't on our list. We'll go back around and find somewhere else to settle in. For now."  
Matt narrowed his eyes at the 'for now'. That meant it wasn't going to be permanent. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who had noticed this. "There's only like a hundred guards," Amber said, "we have easily triple that in fighters. We can take them."  
He shook his head. "We don't want to start anything, Amber."  
"But you need to think-"  
"No. This is final."  
She sighed, mumbling something about how everyone here was a 'bunch of wussies' and how Captain Weaver needed to 'man-up.' Matt may have laughed if she wasn't so angry. When she began to walk away, he followed after her.  
"It's fine, Amber," He whispered. She nodded slowly and shuffled back to the group. "What if we camped out tonight and then tomorrow just went around the city?" Somebody asked.  
"No," Tom spoke. "I need to see what's in there. It could be our first chance of real civilization. Yes, we will find somewhere to stay tonight, but tomorrow, we'll take a few fighters to check out the place."  
"Who are you thinking of?" Weaver replied.  
"My sons," he said, "and a few volunteers-"  
Before he could ask, Amber chimed in. "I've got it."  
Weaver shook his head, answering for Tom. "He said _fighters, _ Amber. You're no longer one of them."  
"Actually, I think she can. Just once, to regain her chance of fighting."  
Amber smiled to herself. "Thank you, President Mason."  
"You're welcome," he muttered. "Anything for my son's girlfriend."  
Her face turned red and Matt wished he could disappear. He knew that his dad was doing it purposely just to embarrass him.  
Before anything else could happen, though, Captain Weaver began to lead everyone away. Amber nudged Matt to get his attention.  
"I'm going to see how Lourdes is doing, 'kay?" She whispered.  
She left before she could see him nod, slipping unnoticed into one of the trailer that was far off the side of the road from the people who were walking. For an entire day, Matt had almost forgotten about the severity of Lourdes' condition.  
Almost.

(Winner of my contest: Soleil0623! Congrats! This is not a biased decision. Yes, I have mentioned her in the past, but I really liked the character she gave me. I did, however, change him a little. His description will be up in The Profile Series so you can see who he is. I will message Soleil personally, too. Thanks to everyone who entered! :D Love, piggyh6)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2, Book 2- Complete.  
"...because of this, Matt, we must postpone the mission." Tom finished his lecture, studying Matt's face for sign of emotion. Matt wet his lips, careful not to cry. He couldn't; not here, not now. It wasn't that they wouldn't continue their scoping out of the city (for now, anyway) that upset him. It was the problem that he had been dreading far, far, more. Carefully, he drew out a long sigh.  
His dad put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Matt refused to meet his eyes as Tom spoke. "If you want, I could tell her for you."  
"No," Matt shook his head. "This is something I need to do. By myself."  
Tom nodded slowly in understanding. "I'll let you do that."  
He turned to walk away. Matt thought that he heard his dad call "Good Luck" over his shoulder, but he couldn't be positive. As the door of the trailer clicked shut, Matt stared at the crumpled paperback book in his hands. Thumbing through the pages, he stopped on the only page that was dog eared in the entire book.  
Instead of reading it, though, he got up, grabbing his rifle without bothering to strap it on, then left. In the distance, he could see his dad walking in the direction that was presumably where Anne and Alexis were staying. Matt wished that he could, like everyone else, explore the new state that they had recently entered.  
Although he knew that an announcement would be launched later on, describing what had happened, but it wouldn't be right to let her find out that way. Stuff like this needed to be told straightforward and in person. No matter how much it would affect her.  
Matt walked through the narrow dirt trails, swiftly to get this over with faster. He barely watched where he was going, looking mostly at his feet as he maneuvered between people. Without realizing it, he almost slammed head-first into Amber.  
The corners of her mouth tugged into a smile. "Hey! I was just going to go look for you."  
Matt nodded solemnly. When she saw the depressing expression he had, her face fell.  
"What's wrong?" She asked, her eyebrows knit together. "I need to tell you something." He hesitated, trying to pick each word carefully. He couldn't screw this one up.  
"Go ahead."  
Matt shook his head. "I can't. I...think this is something you need to see first."  
Amber nodded, obviously confused. Above them, gray clouds began to churn, hinting at later rain, making the mood even more depressing. The first raindrops dripped down, but he didn't feel it. Matt lead her back to the trailer that he had recently left. She followed close behind. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see mixed emotion dancing on her face. Unfortunately, despite the fact that he wanted to so this alone, Anne and Tom were already there. He guessed that they thought Matt needed help on this, but their presence would probably make it worst for Amber. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. How could he even start?  
Amber waited for somebody to talk. When nobody did, she spoke, hesitantly. "What's wrong?" She repeated, more demanding this time, though.  
Matt saw his dad open his mouth to talk, but he shot him a look that told him that he could do this himself. Matt sighed again. Amber didn't say anything, but was clearly anxious to find out what was going on.  
Words calculated in his head. Everything that he thought of seemed too empty. They wouldn't cover it. He decided that just to say it, straight to the point, would probably be his best bet.  
Finally, he spoke quietly. "What we wanted to tell you..."  
He stopped midsentence, not sure how to continue. Matt's eyes flickered uncomfortably around the room, not able to stay in one place.  
"Go on." Amber whispered.  
Before he could continue, Tom started for him, ending the tension right then and there. "Amber. Last night..." He swallowed quickly before going on. "Lourdes was found in her trailer. Dead. She was already past the point of saving."  
Anne nodded. "There was nothing we could have done."  
Immediately, Matt saw something shatter in Amber's eyes. Tears streamed down her face as the remorse was replaced by anger.  
"I will hunt down whoever killed her!" She yelled, balling tight fists at her side. Anne shook her head quickly, extending her arm in front of her. "No, no! Nobody killed her."  
Amber trembled, her lip quivering when she talked. "So...so the eyeworms got to her brain?"  
Tom looked downward when he spoke. "No. There was a gunshot that somebody heard. Lourdes killed herself, Amber."  
Amber's eyes widened. She shook her head, refusing to believe it. "No. That's not true. It's not! She wouldn't do that!"  
Matt stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Amber-"  
She flinched at his touch, throwing herself back from him. "Don't. Touch. Me!" She growled.  
Matt couldn't do anything as she quickly left the trailer, running into the rain that now beat down on the ground. He ran after her, at least attempted to, but she was too fast to keep up with. He had a hard time to keep from tripping with the slippery terrain, let alone run at full speed. Moments later, Amber had disappeared into the trees. Matt could only hear her quiet footfalls as he fell in the mud.  
Immediately, he got up to follow again. His heart rammed against his ribs as he forced himself to go as fast as he could. From behind, his dad's voice was inaudible, falling victim to be lost in the roaring wind. All Matt could focus on was getting to Amber, finding her and making sure that she was safe.  
He left into the woods that Amber had been. He expected it would take time to find her, maybe even hours. And he would do it. He would do anything for her.  
Matt was surprised to find that she wasn't very far out. Only slightly off the forest, leaning against a bare tree. Rain soaked her hair and clothes, but she didn't pay attention to the bitter water that fell from the sky.  
She could definitely hear Matt's loud footsteps, but didn't look up. She may have said something like: "Go away," but he couldn't be sure. Even if she had, it wouldn't have stopped him.  
He sat down next to her without speaking. Amber didn't react in any way. She just continued to sob quietly. Matt brushed a lock of hair that had pasted itself to the side of her face. Unfortunately, though, she paid no attention to him. The silence between them made Matt uncomfortable. Just to get a reaction, he hugged her, placing his arms around her waist from behind. Amber sniffed, finally looking into his eyes. A conversation happened between them, but without words, just emotion, with their eyes. Matt could feel how she felt; after all, Lourdes had been a friend to him, too. He placed a kiss on her forehead as he did whenever they were in hard times. Sitting together, he realized that the love they shared explained much more than words ever could. The quiet right now apparently wasn't so bad after all. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3, Book 2- Complete.  
Amber stubbornly shook her head, making a show of crossing her arms in front of her arms in front of her.  
"Why don't you think I can handle it?"  
He shook his head. "I'm not saying that you can't handle it. I just want-"  
"I'm going with or without you, Matt."  
Matt sighed. "I'll go. But if you need to get out of there, then do it. You don't need to prove anything to anyone."  
She nodded slowly. "Fine."

He opened the door, leading to the small enclosure where Lourdes had died only two days ago. Entering the musty trailer, Amber finally turned around to look at Matt. On the entire way there, she was persistent in not facing him, just to get where she wanted.  
"I'm not here for sentimental value, Matt, if that's what you're wondering. I need to see everything that had happened."  
He shrugged. "There was evidence."  
"What kind of evidence?" She asked.  
He looked around quickly, searching for it. On a bench, _The Notebook_ lay face down. It was the same book that had looked through yesterday. He snatched it up, walking across the room to place it in her lap.  
"I don't know if it's technically _evidence_," Matt muttered. "It's just a book. It was the only thing that they found in here."  
Amber stared down at the paperback as she talked. "This is the only chick-flick book that I like," she remarked. "I was never into this kind of stuff, but Lourdes convinced me to try it. I really did like it, just like she said." "What if it wasn't suicide?" Matt whispered as she looked through the book. "What if it was really the Aspheni and they just planted evidence?"  
She shook her head, wiping at the tears that had betrayed her and fallen anyway.  
"It was."  
"How do you know?"  
She hesitated. "The page she left for me, the one that was folded down at the corner, was the one that we obsessed over at how beautiful it was. I mean, it was meant for a couple, but-but I guess it could imply to friends, too. I can't... I just-"  
Amber handed him the book, squeezing her eyes shut as more tears escaped, unable to finish her sentence. Silently, Matt read the page to himself.  
On the top of the page, from what was once an elegant scrawl that he remembered, was crooked handwriting. Yesterday when he had looked at it, he didn't even notice the sloppy penmanship. However, he could still faintly distinguish that it was Lourdes' because of the similar loops and swirls that it once had. The word written in ink was simple:  
**Amb.**  
Then, it continued on to the typed part of the page.  
_The reason it hurts so much is because our souls are connected. Maybe they always have been and will be. Maybe we've lived a thousand lives before this one and in each one of them we've found each other. And maybe each time, we've been forced apart for the same reasons. That means that this good-bye is both a good-bye for the past ten thousand years and a prelude to what will come._  
_When I look at you, I see your beauty and grace and know they have grown stronger with every life you have lived. And I know I have spent every life before this one searching for you. Not someone like you, but you, for your soul and mine must always come together. And then, for a reason neither of us understands, we've been forced to say good-bye._  
_I would love to tell you that everything will work out for us, and I promise to do all I can to make sure it does. But if we never meet again and this is truly good-bye, I know we will see each other again in another life. We will find each other again, and maybe the stars will have changed, and we will not only love each other in that time, but for all the times we've had before it.  
_Then, enclosing not just the letter, but the last memory of Amber's best friend was the few last words, handwritten once again.  
**I'm sorry.  
Love, Lourdes.**  
The passage from _The Notebook_ was obviously meant for a romantic relationship, but looking at it the other way, he could somewhat see how it related to Lourdes and Amber. Matt nodded. "I don't think that she felt like she had a choice, Amber." He whispered quietly.  
She slipped the book into the side pocket of her hoodie before answering.  
"But she did," she replied. "She would have lived. She would still be alive if she hadn't done it."  
"I know."  
(Yes, somewhat short and slightly cheesy chapter. Sorry, I've been really busy this week, but I will be returning to updating every two days. Thanks for reading! Also, I just want to clarify that the huge italicized passage in this belongs to Nicholas Sparks, author of _The Notebook_. :) Love, piggyh6.)


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